Learning to 'see' light, tips from a National Geographic photographer

National Geographic photographer Bob Holmes takes stunning photos all over the world. But when you ask him how he captures these images, he won't tell you about his favorite lens or any specific technique he uses. He'll talk to you about what he sees. He'll talk to you about light.

That was the subject of a recent conversation he had with Marc Silber of Advancing Your Photography: light. "Most people 'look' and don't really 'see.' You've got to learn to see," says Holmes. "We all look, everybody looks, but you've got to go beyond that and analyze what you've seen... to start with anyway."

Once you acquire this ability to 'see,' explains Holmes, photography becomes about reacting to and capturing what's in front of you—the camera is no longer 'in the way.'

The duo goes on to talk about learning about light from iconic painters, and why it's important to find work that speaks to you and try to unpack why exactly the lighting, composition, subject etc. evokes a certain emotion. The whole conversation, about 10 minutes long, is well worth your time and packed full of little gems. Check it out up top and let us know what you think in the comments.

Always some acrimony in these comments. Listening to accomplished photographers such as Holmes is always a good opportunity to learn something new, different (OMG!) from what we have been doing so far. He shoots following his own inspiration and personal taste. His style is not for everyone but his images are remarkable. Possibly because I am close to his age - I have been a photographer for over 50 years, amateur and then part-time fine art pro - I can easily relate to his points of view. For many photographic subjects including portrait, landscapes and still life, studying the light, composition and color of master painters is a truly excellent recommendation. In terms of photographer vs gear, I find that at this point in my career most of my pictures are already taken when I lift the camera to my eye. I mean that I have already seen the subject and its light and chosen perspective and composition. I just have to set exposure and framing and press the button.

what a refreshing contrast to the "dynamic range rules/you have to bring out maximum information from what is in the shadows" mantra which seems to have taken over thinking of most of the gear focussed crowd.

There are a LOT of people shoot this very same thing, and above just one of them, but you can NOT shoot this very same thing anymore now b/c the sunlight streams are BLOCKED by buildings next to the Grand-central.

In terms of powerful, National Geographic does have some very powerful photos by using lights such as the "Afghan Girl" who was on the cover of June 1985 issue of National Geographic, but she is in jail by now.

Look how the the lights reflect from her eyes, and it is not every photographer can to /catch it:

It's interesting, deep, requires to focus to get the message (i.e. "listen vs hear" / "see vs look") and it reminds me of my excitement when I started photography: spending hours in libraries reading photographers' and painters' monographs to learn to see.

Strange thing: I was not into contemporary art... but was also awed by Rothko paintings when I visited Tate Modern. The first time I "felt" art instead of merely analyzing/understanding it.

Oh boy...he said something in that interview that is practically blasphemy on DPReview - he likes crushed blacks with all the detail wiped out. That alone could cause a mushroom cloud in some circles around here.

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